buy a house before I turn 30

I’ll be happy as long as I can prove myself to be financially independent (working a F/T job to pay the mortgage, utilities, groceries, etc) by the time I’m 30.

I just hope not to end up living w/ my parents and having no life plans but looking forward to playing computer games all day at the age of 35.

...as I’ve come to realize that “no credit” is not the same as “spotless credit” :-)

For years, I foolishly wore a badge of honour that exclaimed: “If you can’t afford it now, then you can’t afford it.”

Okay, I didn’t actually have a badge, but you know what I mean. I’ve managed to acquire a lot of nice things but since it wasn’t on credit, no one “knows” me.

I got the news this afternoon and instead of going to another lender, I’m going to succumb to “The Man” and get some revolving credit. That’s an important term kiddies, cuz your student loans won’t cut it. You need revolving credit (i.e. a credit card, credit line, etc) to pass the test.

I’m surprised that I’m not bummed, cuz the house I was applying for really was the bomb. It’s not my time though, and when “The Man” sees my spotless credit (now with actual activity) in another couple of months, I’ll likely be able to apply for a larger mortgage if I so chose.

Off you go, Goal # 28, be free!

...that I knew existed but never had the chance to search out. That’s what driving around at 2am when you can’t sleep will get you :-)

The prospects of this happening are looking on the up and up again.

After coming home from an extended overseas stay that was supposed to bear financial fruit, my partner’s results were apparently dismal.

That wouldn’t be so bad if his attitude about 2006 wasn’t so gloomy. I, on the other hand, am still optimistic and am trying to encourage him to see things the same way.

Will we get a home next year? We’re going to have to work hard as a team but it’s possible.

...well, the real estate listings.

This is becoming more of a tangible reality and is exciting, quite frankly.

The hardest decision to make is “where” to buy a home. I’m pretty sure that I don’t want to buy property in the city I was born (Montreal) and certainly not the city I grew up in (Toronto’s suburbs).

Overseas – Ghana, to be exact – was an option until my partner told me last week that they shut off the water for almost 10 days! No running water, unable to use the toilet, no showers. Isn’t that, like, a United Nations caliber complaint?

I don’t think I could handle it, really.

So for the next 18 months or so we’ve got to decide on “where” we’ll buy a home.

At least it’s not “if”, so we’re making progress!

I lucked out and married a financial genius and he has done all the work.

We bought our first house just two months before we were married, he was 26 and I was 28. We’ve now been married for 26 years and have just built our dream house.

I’m sick and tired of living in apartments. I want my own house.